Archive for the ‘Android’ Category

PocketBible for Android version 1.2.1 has been released to the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

The major new enhancement to this version is to the search capabilities. We have completely overhauled the search feature to make it more thorough, more flexible, and more usable (no Boolean operators needed!).

Easier Searching, Better Results

Type any word or phrase in the search field. The results you get back will be broken out and ordered by relevance. There are 5 key results you’ll see:

Exact – whatever you searched for was found literally in the text, in that exact order.

All – We found places in the text where all the words you searched for were present, but they were not in any particular order.

Any – These sections contain any key words you searched for. We ignore some words based on how frequently they are used (a, an, the, etc.).

Roots – We found these sections based on slight variations of the word you searched for. This accounts for things like verb tenses, pluralization, and the like.

Sounds – These sections contain words that “sound” like what you searched for.

In addition, a new display setting has been added to allow you to mark or not mark search results in the text (Menu | Settings | Display). Search hits can be marked by color, bold, etc. and this is a temporary marking while the search is active.

Focus Your Searches for Faster Results

When you are creating a new search, you’ll see that you can limit searches by custom ranges – this would include pre-defined sections of the Bible or a specific book of the Bible. You can also choose to search only verses you have highlighted or bookmarked previously. Plus you can now search your own personal notes.

Search by Strong’s Number

We have had many requests in the past for the ability to search your Strong’s Numbered Bibles (i.e. KJVEC, NASEC, HCSBEC). This feature is also included. If you have open and active your Strong’s numbered Bible, you can search in the following ways:

Simply enter the Strong’s number (g26, for example) to see all occurrences of that Strong’s number.

Enter a colon and the Strong’s number after a word (love:g26) to see all verses where the word love is translated from the Strong’s word g26.

Enter a colon and hyphen plus the Strong’s number (love:-g26) to find all the occurrences of a word that are not translated from that particular Strong’s word.

Complete details on how you can use this new search feature are included in the Help option of the navigation menu in PocketBible.

PocketBible for Android version 1.2.0 has been released to the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

The major new feature in this version is the ability to add notes to Bible verses. If you have previously taken notes with other versions of PocketBible, these can now be synchronized to your Android OS device. Your data must first be synced from the other devices to the Laridian Cloud. Version 1.2.0 also includes a fix for an SD card storage issue which popped up in the latest version of Android (4.4+ – kitkat).

PocketBible for Android version 1.1.1 has been released on the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device. You can see the new features in action here:

The added features of this version include:

Improved navigation menu, now with icons for each screen

Preferred Bibles & dictionaries can be set in Settings >> Program Settings

Improved managing of bookmarks, now a simpler, cleaner UI.

Show & manage lists of highlights, similar to what bookmarks already had.

Initial Android 4.4/Kit Kat support.

Various bug fixes, mostly having to do with managing bookmarks and syncing.

This update is mostly about finishing up some recent features. Previously you had highlights but no way to manage them. As we added this ability, we saw some ways we could smooth things out for managing bookmarks. The ability to set Preferred Books was a frequent request and easy addition so we included that here as well.

If you are thinking: “Wait, what about notes? I thought notes were next?” That is still our next major feature to roll out and the work we have done on improving management of bookmarks and highlights will be of benefit there. I have already started working on it this week and things are moving right along!

All of our PocketBible smartphone and tablet apps (Android, Windows Phone/Store and iOS) have a similar feature you can use to quickly move from one book to the other.

Tap on the title bar in a pane and you’ll get a drop-down list of what you have open in that pane. This works the same way in each pane you have open. From there you can tap on the title of another book in the list to move to it; you may be able to close a book or open another book as well (varies by OS). This simple way of managing books makes it easier to get your panes setup like you want as you study the Bible.

Here is a quick video demonstration of this feature using PocketBible for Android:

On my phone, I like to use two panes and keep my Bibles in one pane and my other type books in the second pane. I also have my apps set to sync books by verse so that my Bibles and commentaries always stay on the same verse. On my iPad, I use tabs for each category of book so I can quickly switch between type of book but when I am in a particular tab, like Bibles, I can use the title bar to quickly switch between my different Bibles.

Questions or tips for other users? Please share in the comments below!

PocketBible for Android version 1.1.0 has been released on the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

There were a number of small changes, but the big features are being able to copy and share selected verses! If you select a verse, or verses, by tapping on them, just press the newly added share and copy buttons added to the contextual action bar at the top of the screen. Copying text will copy the selected text to the clipboard allowing you to paste it in other apps. Share will provide you a list of all the apps on your device that can receive the formatted text, like texting, email, facebook, twitter, etc. If you want to see that in action, you can watch the video below:

PocketBible makes it easier than ever to share God’s word!

To change how the selected text is formatted, go into Settings, then Copy/Share Settings and adjust things like showing verse numbers, including references, including translation names, and making each verse on its own line.

PocketBible for Android version 1.0.9 has been released on the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

The major new features in 1.0.9 are the ability to add bookmarks to verses and a new navigation menu. The full list of features includes:

The new bookmark feature is available from the contextual action bar (where you are already able to highlight). When you tap on a verse, you’ll have the option to highlight or bookmark. Bookmarks can be viewed from the navigation menu or side panel (for tablets). Tapping on the PocketBible icon (upper left) will give you quick change options on the navigation menu.

More features are planned for PocketBible for Android including note-taking, daily reading progress tracking and enhanced searching. Take our survey and let us know which of these planned features are of most interest to you.

I started a Google+ page all about the latest PocketBible for Android news and development. About every week or so I post what is being worked on now and what is up next.

You might ask: “You already have a blog. Why make another blog on Google, and only for Android stuff?” Two reasons:

1) We don’t have a huge Google+ presence right now, but a lot of our customers use it already. If you are like me, you might not even have a Facebook or Twitter account, so there are not social media outlets for you to connect with Laridian other than coming to this blog.

2) By having a Google+ page, we are able to promote PocketBible in Google Play in a much more organic way. Believe it or not, during a talk at the latest Google I/O conference, it was revealed that the search algorithm Google Play uses actually looks at your +1s, ratings, and even your friend’s +1s and ratings in Google+ to give you customized search results. In other words, the more we promote PocketBible on Google+ the more it will come up in search results in the Google Play.

PocketBible for Android version 1.0.8 has been released on Google Play. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you will be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

The new feature in 1.0.8 is the ability to manage open books. Tap on the title bar where the book name is displayed – you’ll see a drop down list of all books you have open in that window or pane. Tap on the X next to a book name to close the book. Or choose the option at the bottom of the list to Open a New Book in that pane.

You can use this feature in a variety of ways in PocketBible. I like to split the screen and keep multiple Bibles open in one pane and my other type books (i.e. commentary, reading plan, dictionary) open in another pane. I have PocketBible set to keep books that are organized by verse on the same verse (Menu | Settings | Program Settings | Bible Synchronization). Then as I move through the Bible, I can tap on my second window to consult commentary or look at other books while I keep my Bibles open in the top pane. I can also easily compare variations of the same verse in the top pane by tapping on the title bar to move quickly to a different translation. Finally, I use the second pane to view my reading plan; then I can view the assigned passage in the top pane so I know where to start and stop.

PocketBible for Android version 1.0.6 has been released on Google Play. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you will be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

The major new feature in 1.0.6 is the ability to highlight Bible verses. It is easy to do – just tap on a verse and PocketBible will temporarily underline the verse. Choose the pencil icon from the menu to select a color and you’re done!

Along with the highlighting, PocketBible will now sync your highlights with the Laridian Cloud. So if you have highlighted verses in other versions of PocketBible, those will be transferred over to the app as well. In conjunction with this, you’ll find a new setting option on the menu for Sync Settings where you can specify how and how often your data is being synced.

While we were at it we threw in some other popular requests like the ability to view Bible verses one line at a time, set the screen in PocketBible to not time out and the ability to hide the status bar. You’ll find these new options in the Setting menus.

You can now download PocketBible for Android directly from Google Play. This has the advantage of giving you automatic update notifications and allows those users who cannot install third-party software outside Google Play to download the app. For those of you who have devices that do not have Google Play, you can still download the program directly from us by just entering LPB.cc/android into your Web browser on your Android device.

This doesn’t mean we’re done working on PocketBible for Android. We set a goal for ourselves of having certain features implemented prior to release on Google Play and once that goal was reached we uploaded the program. But we continue to add features. In particular, we need to get notes, highlights, and bookmarks working in the program, along with tracking of your devotional reading progress. These features will be enhanced as compared to our iOS (iPhone/iPad) version, as your data will be kept in continuous sync with “Laridian cloud” instead of requiring you to stop what you’re doing and perform a sync operation manually.

The released version of PocketBible for Android on the Google Play store should install over your “alpha” version. You shouldn’t have to delete the program before installing from Google Play, nor should you have to re-download your Bibles and books when you’re done.

The new version includes built-in help, so the old blog article that contained operating instructions will be retired soon.

We want to thank those of you who have been using the “alpha” versions of PocketBible from our site. We’ve been able to eliminate most of the major show-stopping bugs with your help.

Going forward, if you need help with PocketBible for Android, contact Technical Support through the “Help Desk” link on our website.